PULSE...Your Rhythm. God's Heart.

Last week I started teaching a new series on worship called "Pulse...Your Rhythm. God's Heart.". Imagine that, a worship leader teaching on worship. And no, I don't mean singing! That's just the point of this teaching. Worship is so much more than just the uttering of words (that may or may not ring true) out of one's mouth.


As many of you know, I have really been struggling lately with what it is that God has for me at this moment in time. More specifically, my role in the Creative Arts here at FBC. Although I don't yet have my finger on it just yet, I am beginning to feel as though this could be the biggest year of things to happen off stage. Take this teaching on worship for example. We have fixated, and yes, even gained a new "tradition", on worship being what happens on the platform Sunday morning. Now don't get me wrong, I love, even thrive on corporate worship. But that could be sooooo much better when we begin to get it off stage. That is why I am teaching this class! I really believe that God has big things coming, "behind the scenes" if you will. Not to sound prideful (because we all know that without God, this whole thing goes to pot), but God has blessed us & for the most part the on-stage stuff is being done well...need I say...excellently.

So, it's the off-stage (heart) issues that I believe will see the biggest growth this year. For those of you that won't have the chance to come to the class, I am going to be posting some of the key points here on the blog. To give credit where credit is due, I should say that this teaching originated from Lamar Boschman, the founder and president of the International Worship Institute. I am merely the facilitator (with a few opinions). We are two weeks into it now, so I had better stop rambling & get to it.


WEEK 1 - WIRED



We are all wired to worship. We were created to worship. The question is, what are you worshipping?

"Worship is a universal urge, hard wired by God into the very fiber of our being-an inbuilt need to connect with god" -Rick Warren

As stated earlier, God created you to be a worshipper. You don't need to be trained in worship. It comes naturally. Now, back to the question, what are you worshipping? Come on, let's be honest, the Razorbacks! Being from Texas, I'm not a fan. But around here, that's an easy one. People worship the Hogs. If that's not an idol, I don't know what is. I know, I know, I'm meddling. My apologies. What else? There's the obvious...movie stars, singers, athletes. What about the not so obvious...our kids, ourselves, worship. Yes, I said worship. You can get so wrapped up in the "expressions" of worship & miss the boat completely on the object of our worship.

Psalm 135:15-18 (New International Version)

15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
made by the hands of men.

16 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but they cannot see;

17 they have ears, but cannot hear,
nor is there breath in their mouths.

18 Those who make them will be like them,
and so will all who trust in them.

So what should be the object of our worship? That's a great segue into this week's teaching. Shall we...

WEEK 2 - AIM

"Aim at heaven and you will get the earth thrown in: aim at earth and you will get neither.
- C.S. Lewis

God didn't create you to worship simply for the sake of worship itself. Worship has a purpose. None of the expressions of worship are for your own enjoyment (although, done with the right heart, they bring personal joy), you do it for the Lord. This week really opened up my eyes to the mystery of God. I love the fact that He is mysterious. However, God's word unlocks many of those mysteries for us, if we have eyes to see. We must get to the point that we "aim" our worship for the bulls eye & are not simply content with just hitting the target. Let me explain. In God's word, He has been gracious to offer to us many of His attributes. Once again, this allows us to get more specific & not deal in generalities. Let's list a few:

Self-existent - Exodus 3:14

Eternal - Psalm 90:2

Infinite - Romans 11:33

Unchanging - Malachi 3:6a

All-knowing - Isaiah 40:13-14

Wise - 1 Timothy 1:17

And the list goes on. In fact, I'm not sure that all of His attributes will be fully revealed until we are worshipping Him face to face. Oh, I CAN'T WAIT!!

I hope this helps you to tighten your focus when worshipping. I want to leave you with a quote from a great theologian J.I. Packer:

"What were we made for? To know God. What aim should we have in life? To know God."

BLESSINGS!